Don't ask, don't tell: How do other countries treat gay soldiers?

Don't ask, don't tell doesn't fly with NATO members, except Turkey and the US. NATO nations now allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. But 53 nations, including North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, ban homosexuals from military service.

Lt. Dan Choi, stands alone after handcuffing himself to the fence outside the White House during a protest for gay-rights in Washington in April. Turkey is the only other NATO country that allows anti-gay laws like 'don't ask, don't tell.'

US military leaders say they're aware of precedent in other countries. Adm. Mike Mullen, during a Congressional hearing on Feb. 2, 2010, said he had spoken to his counterparts in countries that lifted the bans and they told him there had been “no impact on military effectiveness” as a result, and that he was aware of no studies showing that ending DADT would harm unit cohesion.

Canada and Australia lifted their bans in 1992, followed by Israel in 1993, and South Africa in 1998. The lift on bans did not result in a mass “coming out,” the Palm Center found, nor were there instances of increased harassment of or by gay people.

When Britain looked to repeal its ban, its military initially considered DADT. But they found it was a “disaster,” which “hadn’t worked,” was “unworkable” and was “hypocritical,” according to the Palm Center’s report, "Gays in Foreign Militaries 2010: A Global Primer."

Instead, the British military based its regulations on the Australian model, which simply ban public displays of affection, harassment and inappropriate relationships – regardless of whether the couple was gay or straight. In 2002, the British Ministry of Defense reconfirmed that “there has been no discernible impact on operational effectiveness” as a result of ending the gay ban and that “no further review of the Armed Forces policy on homosexuality” was necessary.

US concerns unfounded: studies

Concern that the repeal of DADT will reduce the number of volunteers is unfounded, according to Dr. Nathaniel Frank, primary author of the Palm Center Report. In Britain and Canada, roughly two-thirds of the military said it would refuse to serve with open gays, but in reality no more than three people in each country actually resigned, according to the report.

If the US does repeal DADT, then precedent from other countries says that a change in policy should be implemented firmly and swiftly. A 1993 Rand report (pdf download) said “fast and pervasive change will signal commitment to the [new] policy,” while “incremental changes would likely be viewed as experimental” and weaken compliance.

Concerns remain in US

But upcoming mid-term elections have Democrats and Republicans worried about losing votes, even though a new CNN poll shows that 78 percent of Americans support repeal of the policy. A recent Gallop Poll shows that views have shifted generally on homosexual relations in the past decade. The percentage of Americans calling these relations "morally wrong" dropped to 43 percent, down from 55 percent n 2002.

Retired Army Gen. Colin Powell, who once backed the ban, came out against it in February. "Attitudes and circumstances have changed," Powell told the Washington Post. "It's been a whole generation" since the legislation was adopted, and there is increased "acceptance of gays and lesbians in society," he said. "Society is always reflected in the military. It's where we get our soldiers from."

“This 'don’t ask, don’t tell' issue, they’re going to try to jam that through without even trying to figure out what the impact on battle effectiveness would be,” Senator McCain said this week on Arizona’s KBLU radio. In February, Mr. McCain said DADT "has helped to balance a potentially disruptive tension between the desires of a minority and the broader Interests of our all volunteer force.”

Mr. Sarvis of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which has legally represented military personnel discharged under DADT, roundly rejects this.

“That suggestion is an insult to our service members. And in it is implied that they are not professionals,” he says, likening the current push to repeal DADT to President Harry Truman’s 1948 order to end discrimination in the military.

“The record is the record. Open service in the countries talked about does not have the dire consequences that Sen. McCain asserts.”